Sert Day 14

Pouring Down The Finishing Straight.

Oslo Ferry Port - Sande - Haugtuft

Distance: 67 Miles

Pretty much day one in reverse, but without the sunshine. Instead the torrential rain on the E-18 was the only time that is wasn't so much fun driving the Spitfire. The weather was horrendous. After stopping for petrol I had to drive up on the pavement to avoid submerging the front of the Triumph in the lake that was on the exit road.

We popped into the in-laws chalet again on the way back, arriving home to four, happy to see us, cats early afternoon and set about preparing ourselves to slowly come back into our everyday life.

After 1937 miles, the car was more complete, working as well and looking better than when we left. The only times that we opened the bonnet were to tighten the fan belt, check fluids, show off and install the winscreen squirter pump, that I'd borrowed not long before we left to get the Land Rover through it's test.

We had a fantastic time, saw some wonderful places, had a good time with friends and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I can highly recommend doing a tour of Europe in a classic sports car, especially one that you've restored yourself.

Sert Day 13

Heading Home

Vordingborg - Rødbyhavn - Puttgarden (ferry) - Keil

Distance: 101 miles


We took an early start to make sure that we were in good time for our early afternoon sailing on the "cruise ferry" MS Colour Fantasy. We allowed extra time knowing that we had to also take the Rødbyhavn - Puttgarden ferry back into Germany. It was on this ferry that I saw something I've never seen before, a train on a ferry..... As Photoed

It was grey weather all the way so the top was up for our last day of driving outside Norway. We made the ferry in good time.

We enjoyed Colour Fantasy's various luxuries, eating to our hearts content in the excellent buffet, taking a session in the gym (mostly in the sauna, steam room and jacuuzi) and spent an amount of time on the excellent massage chairs. It pains me to say this, but your's truly even endured the musical show for the sake of his wife. Apart from the Andrew Lyodd Pain in the Arse bits some of it was actually pretty good.

We took to our cabin feeling content, in the knowledge that the old girl had got us all this way and would take us back to Norwegian shores. A fantastic adventure and very enjoyable holiday was nearly over.

Sert Day 12

Vordingbourg - Køge - Stenløse - Vordingbourg

Sun - Sea - Sand and Cake.

Distance: 147 miles



Our only full day in denmark started with fantastic sunshine and a walk around Vourdingbourg before we headed off on our way to our mid afternoon date with the wedding planners and their new arrival.

We had good time and relatively speaking not all that far to go so we headed onto backroads towards the west coast of Sjælland in search of a beach. It's the Norwegian way, if the suns shining and you're near the sea then you go swimming.

Here's a photo to prove that, as much as I was enjoy our only day without the car laden by luggage, I didn't do all the driving. Here's Mrs VL in overdrive top at approximately 11:05 in the morning. If I'd ever got round to setting the steering wheel straight we'd maybe even know how fast she was driving! I'd extimate about 53Mph.



Anyway, we did find a beach, we did swim (which was splendidly refreshing), we did play frisbee and here's a sight that you don't see to often. An white, sunbathing English man. I think you can see that this is one body that doesn't see the sun too often.



Shortly after our beach visit came one of the few occasions that the bonnet was opened. Don't panic though, it was only whilst we gave the car a thorough and badly needed clean before we arrived, almost bang on time, at the wedding helpers. Here we said hello to a their very peaceful and sweet young son and admired a patch of missing paving slabs (quite an achievement, I'll tell you).



As you can see, we were offered (and ate (in my case)) a very good selection of Danish cakes.

It was top up on the way back to the expensively mediocre hotel as there was the threat of rain. This didn't materialise until later. When it came it really came and we were glad the car was under cover. That was the end of the sunshine, the wipers were on for the rest of the trip.

Sert Day 11

Catherdrals, Marzipan, Ferries and Frisbees.

Lubeck - Puttgarden - Rødbyhavn (ferry) - Vordingborg

Distance: 111 miles

After a hearty and badly needed breakfast and knowing that we had some time in hand we decided to start the day with a tour around the Marzipan capital of Europe, Lubeck.

What a wonderfull and beautiful city it is, full of history and fantastic architecture. One of our stops was the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church), which was substantially damaged during the second world war. You would hardly know that now but for the bells that lie exactly as they fell on the night of the 28th march 1942.

Here are also a couple of gratuitious organ shots for the benifit of Our Father who art in Cork.

Don't ask me why, but Lubeck is also famous for its' marzipan, so we couldn't leave without trying some. That was after an outdoor lunch in the sunshine, looks like I enjoyed it in all.

After Lunch it was onward into Denmark via the Puttgarden-Rødbyhavn ferry, with a plan to find somewhere for our final two nights which was an OK round trip to pop by the wedding planners and also not to far from Rødbyhavn for our early morning trip back to Keil.

Deciding we had gone far enough into Denmark we left the motorway immediately after we came across the bridge onto Sjælland, the Island on which Copenhagen is situated. We found ourselves and expensively mediocre hotel in the pretty seaside town of Vordingborg, enjoyed a spot of Frisbee in the large park and some reasonable food in a local resturant.

Another good day on the road as the Spitfire European Road Trip near it's end.

Sert Day 10

A Long Long Way.

Breitungen - Eisenach - Muhlhausen - Lubeck

Distance: 295 Miles

The day started with an unsuccessful trip to a beach/swimming place on the river, which dispite sign posts never materialised... I wasn't so dissapointed as it was a little grey and overcast and not all that warm, Mrs VL on the other hand was, as she had been ooking forward to her "morning bathe".

Knowing that we had a long drive ahead of us, we had to resist the temptation of stopping at the various sights on the way.

I had to lay down the law as, after less than 45 mins on the road, we came into Eisenach and discovered that it was not only J.S. Bachs birthplace but also the location of the fantastic Wartburg Castle, as photo'ed below.

Martin Luther also lived in Eisenach and was resident in Wartburg castle whilst he translated the new testament. We had to miss out on the bus ride up to the castle, with such a distance to cover we had to get some miles behind us.

We continued northwards up the very enjoyble German A- (and sometimes B-) roads, stopping for lunch at Muhlhausen, a very pretty town. Bizarrely we had been searching for a frisbee (no ordinary frisbee but one to match London Sons one that we had so enjoyed in our earlier trip to Our Parents in Ireland ). We were so glad to find finally find them that we bought 3, two different ones for us and one for the neighbours lads.

After lunch, other than a frisbee break, we continued northwards to Lubeck, finally arriving mid evening (around 9:30 p.m.). Fortunately we had also stopped at a supermarket for some bread and cheese a little earlier because finding a hotel wasn't all that easy and in the end we missed out on dinner. Don't panic though, I still had some Belgium beer in the boot so I didn't go completely without nourishment!

The hotel was good, and we slept soundly knowing that the last long days driving was behind us.

Sert Day 9

What a Museum.

Ingelheim-am-Rhein - Sinsheim - Breitungen

Distance: 256 Miles.

Back in the car and straight on to the Autobahn, heading south and east towards "Sinsheim Auto-Tecknik Museum" . After many days overdosing on historical buildings, vinyards and so on, I needed something more techinical, and as the Nurburgrings opening times didn't fit at all this seemed like the perfect thing!

What can I say, an incredible collection, 5 or more aricraft on the roof, all of which you could go in and including, as you can see over, not only Concord but also the Russian attempt, the Tupolov TU-144, "Concordski" which first flew on the 31st of December 1968, two months before Concord. It was the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2, and the fastest commercial airliner ever (Source of information Wikipedia, so it should be correct!!!!).

In addition to the aircraft there is a huge collection of war machines, cars, bikes, farming equipment and rather bizarly cinema and theatre organs. Sorry about the poor photo quality below, I had the camera on the wrong setting and most of the things I wanted to show you didn't come out. There was a very smart Triumph TR6, btw.

Anyway, well worth a visit. If I get the chance I want to go back. Maybe next time we visit the vets in Ingelheim, I can sneak off for the day..... We had a good 4-5 hours at the museum, but between the energy sapping heat and the enormity of the museum there was plenty we didn't get to see.

Just 40Km from Sinsheim is the sister musuem "Speyer Tecknik Museum", where they have no less than a Jumbo Jet on the roof. That's also now high on my list of places to visit....

Leaving Sinsheim marked the turning point, now we were more or less on our way home, heading Northwards through Germany, ultimately towards the ferry in Kiel, although we still had a short diversion a 100 or so miles into Denmark planned to visit "the wedding helpers" (Mrs VL's Bridemaid, Husband and their recent addition, a 1 month old boy).

The car performed faultlessly in the blistering heat on the way up through what used to be the East German countryside. We desided to stop early evening, and after a little to-ing and fro-ing found a pleasent and cheap hotel in Breitungen.

After a large portion of traditional fair and a couple of local beers we took a walk around the village before retiring, with a long drive ahead of us the next day.

Sert Day 8

Little (Big) Cats

"Around and about Ingelheim"

Distance: Some Miles (On Foot), a very few miles (in car)

The day started as the previous one, with an ample, very tasty and leisurely breakfast. The plan for the day was to go for another walk.

Knowing from the previous day that our hosts had slightly different "afternoon nutritionaly requirements" to ours, a certain member of the party (who shall remain nameless) insisted that we didn't leave the flat without a substantial packed lunch in tow..

So, happy that my stomach was catered for, we set off into the vinyards behind and above Ingelheim. This photo looks out over old Ingelheim and for those of you who can be bothered looking closely, on the top of the hillside beyond, above and slightly to the left of the Church spire there's an old tower. That's where we were heading, not just a great view but also some Bengal Tiger cubs in the Tiger zoo beside it.

So, we ate our lunch, and headed past the church and into Old Ingelheim

before walking onwards up the other side and arriving just in time for "play time" when the Cubs were taken out into a seperate enclosure and pretty much left to get on with it. It was fantastic to get so close to these magnificent animals, and uncanny the similar behaviours with our own Bengals (albeit a little bigger!!)

The did at least look like they were even more trouble than our lot!!

After a quick "Shandy" and a trip up to the top of the tower we headed off back.

As it was blazing hot, we headed off to the local outdoor swimming complex, Boys in the car on the way down and girls on the way back! Spirits were high and we were all suitably adult to make the most of the slide and daft enough to jump of high diving platform... The boys got to ride the bikes back up the hill, and despite my worries for leaving the car in Mrs VL's unsupervised hands for the first time, it was infact me that broke Mrs GV's bike... Oops, sorry, I hope it's been fixed!!

More food and drink and a relatively early night, the GV's back to work and us back on the road the next day. Many thanks to the GV's for a wonderful weekend, our door is open, feel free to come and visit anytime.

Sert Day 7

A "short" walk

Schloss Johannisberg - Eberbach Monastery - Schloss Johannisberg

Distance: 10+ Miles (On Foot)

The second and final day of the trip that the Spitfire didn't turn a wheel started with a more than ample breakfast after which, as I was determined to taste and purchase some local wine, we all headed on foot into Ingelheim.

Our local guides new exactly where to take us and we headed straight into "Weingut J. Mett's" open courtyard and shop. We were on the red side of the valley so we where immediately presented with three reds to taste. After a little swirlling, gargling, inhaling and all of that, me and Mrs VL agreed on the "2005 Dornfelder" as a bottom of the range, drink whenever alternative.. Wanting to add to the wine cellar, I also chose a "2004 Blauer Spatburgunder" which has won various prices. Obviously, given the space limitations in the car and the potential for more purchases during the day, two bottles was all we dared to take.

Back to the flat and onwards, in the car and across the Rhein towards Schloss (castle) Johannisberg. We had our lunch in the car, but as we were only going for a little stroll, we didn't take it with us.

The first thing we found at Schloss Johannisberg was more tractors, and again, the narrow version of another of the nieghbours vehicles as shown below.

After a breif stop to look at the fish, we headed onwards towards the destination of our walk, Kloster Eberbach. It quickly became apparent in my mind that this stroll was more of a walk, lunch time was approaching and passing and we were getting further from our food. I must confess to a degree of hungry consternation when we past a signpost stating that the mid point of our walk was 8Km away.

It wasn't long before spirits were raised as we came to this fantastic "Wine Fridge" open to all with a price list and an honesty box. This wouldn't work anywhere in the world, but it seemed to here on the "Rheinstig".

Refreshed, we headed onwards towards the 12 Century monestary of Eberbach. The journey was slow, not helped by the active model club at their airstrip, where yours truly had to stop and watch them flying their planes for a "little while".

When we finally arrived at our destination the question was asked if we should eat first (in the resturant) or have a look around. You can imagine the reply!! So with some local beer and very tasty grub in us we headed on for a look around the fantastic closters and grounds. Those of you who have seen the film "the name of the rose" have seen the inside of these buildings.

Not suprisingly they made wine here through the years (and still do), here are the incredible presses that they used. Just a note for "Partner in Crime", after our bumper crop of grapes this year, we might be needing one of these.... A couple of bits of Oak and a few evenings in the basement, i've got some more detailed shots!......???

More tasting and the purchase of a reisling before we set off on the quick stroll back to our Lunch (stopping at the fridge for refreshment), arriving early evening and back to the Vets flat where my inventive culinary skills were put to the test, making an acceptable Pasta sauce. Highly appropriate for the excellent red wine from the wine cellar....

Sert Day 6

Verticle Vinyards in the Mosel Valley

Remich - Trittenheim - Marienburg - Ingelheim am Rhein

Distance: 159 Miles

The day started, as planned, with a trip to "Cactus" the local supermarket and drinks shop to take advantage of the incredibly low prices in Luxemboug. I came away with a bottle of Luxembourgs finest (hopefully!) pink sparkling and a medium range single malt, Glen Elgin.

I also purchased a small and very cheap rucksack for the tool kit to minimise the number of poly bags that we had to carry in and out of our accommodation each morning and evening.

By now we were expert at packing the boot and putting the hood down, so we were making our way up the Mosel valley in no time. Fortunately we were also expert at putting the hood up as not long before this picture was taken there was a sudden downpour, which was the last rain we saw until the 2nd last day on the way back to Kiel.We had an early and slightly extented stop at a gardening/DIY/motor shop to get some glue suitable to attach the Triumph Badge back on the back bumper (the 30 Year old glue had given up during the heavy rain duting the night in Bastonge), some screws and crimps to sort out the washer pump, which I had borrowed for the Landrovers test some weeks before.

We got the badge glued back on and Mrs VL polished some chrome while I got the washer pump mounted and wired back up.

Feeling ever more complete we continued up the fantastic Mosel Valley towards our lunch stop at Trittenheim with Mrs VL behind the wheel. "When in Rome", we enjoyed our very traditional lunch of Bratwurst and saurkraut with some very nice grape juice. During our short after lunch walk we spotted this tractor, which we had to get a photo of as it's identical to the Neighbours, only in minature. There were lots of these narrow tractors about, designed, obviously, to fit between the rows of grapevines.

It's amazing the steepness of some of the hillsides where they grow these grapes, almost everything apart from verticle rock was covered with rows of grapevines, a truly amazing sight, the photo doen't quite do justice, but it's the best one we got...

After a diversion away from the valley due to a closed road, and quick stop for ice creams at the very beautiful town of Marienburg we left the Mosel, and heady cross country through small villages and towns before finally plonking ourselves on the Autobahn towards Frankfurt. We arrived at our hosts, "The German Vets", fantastic appartment early evening, as planned. The day was capped off by a balcony bar-b-q, some good wine and local traditions and very good company...

Sert Day 5

Hills, at last and rain.

Bastogne-Bourscheid-Remich

Distance: 90 Miles

The day started just on the other side of Bastogne town at the war memorial and Bastogne Historical Centre. Just as well it wasn't so far away as I had to leave Mrs VL behind for 15 minutes to give back the keys to the room in the B&B which we had managed to take with us...

Anyway, Bastogne is, of course, the location of the battle of the Bulge during which cut off and under supplied American troops fought back the advances of the Germans in a crucial battle of the 2nd world war.

We had to run from the most impresive Memorial into the Museum to escape the pouring rain, which slowly eased up during the day and stopped in the mid afternoon. The Museum was well worth the visit, although not quite on the scale of the Normandy Beaches Museums which I visited with Blogs Brother in Law and London Son some years back.

We drove back into the town as Mrs VL wanted some Belgian Chocolate for the Journey and I, obviously, wanted to take this last oppurtunity to stock up on some Belgian beer. Before long we were over the border into Luxembourg, and almost as quickly the landscape changed from flat to distinctly hilly.

Rather dissapointingly, we found out how easily the front brakes over heated on the way down the hill to past this view point (we drove back up just to have another go at it (well, to have a look at the view actually)). Our journey onwards took us over the dam in the picture.

One of our guides, Lonely Planets "Europe on a shoe string" mentioned the Magnificent 1000 Year old hill side castle of Chateau De Bourscheid , and when we finally found it it was indeed, Magnificent, 1000 years old and on the side of a steep hill. Affording fantastic views from the top of the watch house, as you can see...

After a quick Cup-a-Soup Lunch, we stopped to take the photo used on the worlds most expensive postcard (shown below for those that didn't recieve one (apologies, but by the time we'd got them printed, bought a special pen, bought envelopes, bought siscors because the envelopes were to small (or were the photos to big?), and paid the rediculous German postal cost, we couldn't afford any more...))

Onward, carefully, with the gearbox screaming (as it does) in third or second down the steepest hills we headed through the elegant Luxembourg City towards our final destination Remich, in Luxembourgs small wine region on the Mosel Valley.

Lonely Planet reccomended Hotel Auberge with the Resturant de Cygnes, specialising in wood fire baked Pizzas. The Pizza was very good, albeit consumed a little late in the evening after our walk round town during which we enjoyed some Pasta with some local White wine, saw some fantastic fruit trees and did a bit of a shop at the Local Supermarket. Finding out in the process that beer and whiskey were very cheap in Luxembourg so we scheduled a quick trip there in the morning with the car.

Sert Day 4

Sun, Sea and Sand...

Schiedam - Ouddorp - Aartlesaar (Antwerp) - Bastogne

Distance: 253 Miles

Before we set off, late morning, we took the time to grease the window runners and install the door trims and window winders, which we had packed in the realisation that we were not going to get them fitted before we left.

Our biggest loss of the trip occurred as we drove down past Europort. The high speed and buffeting from the constant stream of artics we passed was too much for the slightly last minute and ad-hoc mounts for the passenger door mirror, last seen dissapearing under an artic on the N-15. Oh- well, nothing precious, I'll just have to buy a new one with the correct mounts..

The sun was blazing hot and the open roof gave us the best possible views as we drove along the dykes and over the miles long sluice gates regulating the sea level "In-Land". We made a quick stop for provisions in Ooudorp and found the nearest beach, a long and fantastically sandy one. The cold waters and mild swell of the north sea provided welcome cooling before we headed onwards towards Belgium. Here's a quick in car shot from the A-58 on Zeeland.

Our next planned stop was Nova Tech in Aartlesaar just south of Antwerp. During my time in England I had worked closely with these guys, sometimes under tough situations but the times I was visiting them and when they were in England we always had a good laugh. When I made my surprise call that morning it was good to speak to one of the guys but sad to hear that two of the others were out of town.

By the time we had run out of petrol 4 Km from Novatech (I cadged a lift off a very kind Belgium man to the nearest petrol station and had to walk the 1.5Km back) we arrived much later than planned.

After an hour of remminissing, some coffee, some Dutch cheese and biscuits, we set off at about 7:30 p.m. towards our final destination of Bastogne, but not before our French speaking friend had helped us book a B&B.

Our route took us around the Brussels ring and onward through the heart of the french speaking part of Belgium. On the way there were more than a few one horse (or is that one whores) seedy towns, with a worrying quantity of red lights... We did not stop.

We finally arrived at the grand old farmhouse that was our B&B at the late hour of 10:30 p.m. Our room was large and very fine complete with on-suite divided by just a curtain.

SERT Day 3

Cube Houses and Cheese...

Distance: 0 Miles

Day three was the first of three days off driving. We began the day by sucessfully entering the boot, removing the trim inside the back of the car and working blind through a small hole to undo one of the boot hinges.

We also popped in and bought some wonderful chocolate from the "Chocolate Art" Factory and shop which we were staying over.

After this we hopped on the tram into Rotterdam which was our main sightseeing destination. A quick bite of Chinese and off we set to look at Rotterdams rather special and bizarre Cube Houses, designed by one Piet Blom, seen here with the slightly more normal Pencil house in the back ground.

One of the cube houses was open as a "Show Cube", so we paid a visit. The conclusion was that it would be fun to buld furniture for, the cats would love it and after that you'd probably get fed up with it..

After that we walk along the river with it's constant flow of long, laden and low barges transport their cargos between Europort and deep into mainland Europe.

We saw some more architecture and sights, and quite by accident stumbled upon a ship museum, including a fantastic workshop which I was allowed to have a little peak into. For the benifit of Partner in Crime here's a photo, I believe a suitable phrase is "Green With Envy".

Next stop was Gouda, a 20 minute train ride from Rotterdam. We were sadly too late for the market but not to late to enjoy a walk around this fantastically scenic town and visit this fantastically cheesy shop

After much tasting and debate we left with a selection of cheeses as an after dinner offering for our evenings meal. These included a Gouda which had matured for over 2 1/2 Years!! and very tasty it was.

A quick local beer by, predictably enough another canal and it was back on the train to make our way back for the evenings meal and some very enjoyable company. Dinner, as the weather was fine, turned out to be a roof top Bar-B-Q.

Good food, good drinks and excellent company. Many thanks to our kind hosts, make sure we can return the favour, feel free to come and visit...

Just so that I'm not accused of biasing the men in my photo's, here's one of the happy ladies also...

SERT Day 2

Rain, Rain, Rain

Kiel - Itzehoe - Cloppenburg - Scheidam (Nr Rotterdam)

Distance: 391 Miles

Still unable to enter the boot, but not smelling yet as we forunately had with us our washing gear and a change of undies in the cabin we headed off the ferry onto German soil at around 10:00 a.m. Our nagivation skills failed us immediately as we headed out of Kiel on the most North Westerly road available instead of the Autobahn due south to Hamburg as originally planned.

The weather was so foul that, on discovering our mistake, we decided that the Autobahn wouldn't be much fun and a more cross country route was chosen. By the time we reach Itzehoe our stomachs were ready for lunch, so a quick stop at a super market before continuing onward to eat our German delicacies on a ferry accross the Elbe, although I don't think Mrs VL thought the smelly cheese was all that delicate!!! We didn't get out and was pleased that the hood kept out most of the huge amounts of spray as the open ferry crashed into the waves.

During the journey my mind was desparately churning on how to get into the boot with the minimum amount of damage. A plan was hatched and we stopped in Cloppenburg to purchase a very shiney 13mm ratchet spanner (1/2" was not available and the comprehensive tool kit was locked in the boot). We took advantage of a slight let up in the torrential rain and refueled ourselves with a very traditional German "Subway" after a good leg stretch around the town.

By now, it was clear that our planned 7 p.m. arrival time was optimistic and even more worrying that the number we had to contact our hosts was clearly wrong. This problem was solved by using the Saw Sharpner as a middle man and our hosts were informed to expect us a little later.

A couple of hours of motorway driving completed a long 12 hours on the road and we arrived outside a very fancy choclate shop beside a canal. Over which our host for the next 2 days, the Chemical Spaniards, have a wonderful flat.

Spitfire European Road Trip (SERT) Day 1

Easy Start.



Haugtuft - Sande - Oslo Ferry Port (Colorline)



Distance: 67 Miles


After an early and slightly drizzly start to complete our packing we got underway behind schedule at about 09:15 a.m. After popping in to the In-Laws Chalet to show of the more or less finished car before anything had a chance to fall off or break we headed, with top now down, on our pleasantly sunny way towards the ferry port, arriving at 12:30p.m in good time for our 2 p.m. departure.


We had such good time that we were able to attach the sun visors whilst waiting to be board, much to the amusement of some of those waiting.

Our largest problem of the whole trip started not long after boarding when I locked the boot for the first time and we couldn't get it unlocked again.

The crossing was a little rough so both food and drink consumptions were a little subdued.

We're home

After 1936.5 miles we've arrived safely back home. The car has been superb the whole way and we managed all our visits and stops as planned.

Only time that we got stuck was the one time we ran out of petrol and the only times the bonnet was opened were to check fluids, tighten the fan belt, cleaning and showing off....

Anyway, here's a little taster picture. More detailed report to follow as, mainly for our benefit rather than your boredom, I'm planning to write a daily dairy in the near future.



Oh, and sadly there was no Nurburgring, it had to happen on the Second Monday or Tuesday but the circuit wasn't open for the public until the Wednesday at 5 p.m at which time we needed to be 500 miles north of Nurburg.. Oh well, another time.

Tour report.

It's day 5 of our European tour in the Triumph and we've covered over 800 miles. Whilst, up to now, we've been free from major mechanical problems, there's been a few little 'events' along the way.

We arrived in good time for the ferry in Oslo on Sunday, and the crossing to Kiel was good. However, almost like losing one's baggage on a flight, we were reunited with our 'stowed' luggage in Rotterdam on Tuesday morning. After locking the boot for the first time it didn't unlock again. Remedy, remove trim from inside of car, reach in and undo hinges. All this with the 13mm spanner purchased during our wet and windy drive from Kiel to Rotterdam on the Monday.

On Tuesday, a day off driving, we went into a cube house in Rotterdam, bought cheese in Gouda and enjoyed a bar-be and some belgian beer with our kind hosts.

Yesterday, the car gained the inside doortrims, lost a wing mirror at speed beside Europort (fell off all on it's own) and we found the limit of the fuel guage. Otherwise trouble free, we drove over Hollands dykes, swam in the sea, popped by for coffee in Antwerp and settled for the night in Bastogne, sunshine and top down all the way.

This morning found wet seats and the Triumph badge on the floor after losing it's battle with gravity combined with some help from the heavy rain washing away the adhesive during the night. After learning of Bastogne's war significance, a short day of a little over 100 miles has taken us to Remich in Luxembourg in the Moselle Valley. On the way we stopped at Chateux de Bourschied, a magnificent 1000 year old castle perched high on the hill side.

Tommorrow it's the Moselle valley and onto Ingelheim am Rhein near Frankfurt.

It's a pleasure to enjoy my Triumph again after all these years and it's all thanks to the many who have had a hand in helping, to all I am very grateful, but thats another story and another post.

Pictures Later.